Motion-transmitting device



Jan. 30, 1962 A. J. DIEBOLD MOTION-TRANSMITTING DEVICE Filed Aug. 28, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet l G2" 3 5s Q I': E f: G3

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S/@f3 56 INVENTOR.

ALFRED J. DIEBOLD 57 C) BY/a. i FM ATTORNEY Jan. 30, 1962 A, J, DIE-BOLD 3,019,070

MOTION-TRANSMITTING DEVICE Filed Aug. 28, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

ALFRED J.D1EBOLD Dit@ gates The present invention relates to a drawer assembly for a storage cabinet and more particularly relates to a powerdriven drawer assembly therefor.

Current storage systems have generally tended in the direction of the use of drawers below the level of a countertop, particularly for storing foodstuffs and the like. For instance, refrigerator manufacturers have in the past promoted, and continue to promote, the use of a roll-out drawer in the lower portion of the refrigerator in which is stored frozen foods. Upon pulling the drawer forward, easy access is gained to the contents of the drawer. In view of the compact manner of packaging frozen foods, and due to the large available capacity of some of the drawers, it is possible to have loads of several hundred pounds in the drawer. In order to simplify the movement of the loads in the drawer, it has been proposed to apply a power-driven means to the unit for automatic operation of the drawer. One problem that had to be overcome was the end result of a power failure during operation of the drawer. That is, a drawer full of frozen foods that is halfway open when the power fails is in grave danger of becoming a total loss. Special means had to be provided to permit the power-driven means to be deactivated while the drawer was being manually closed. The drawer also had to be capable of manual operation in the event the power failed with the drawer closed.

It is, therefore, a principal object of this invention to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art and to provide an improved power-operated drawer.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved power-operated drawer with means for deactivating the power unit so as to permit manual operation of the drawer.

A still further object of this invention relates to an improved quick-release mechanism for disengaging the power unit from the drawer.

Another object of this invention relates to an improved motion-transmitting means having stabilizing means associated therewith for resisting rotation of the nut portion of said motion-transmitting means.

And another object of this invention is to provide an improved drawer-operating device that is simple, inexpensive to build, economical to operate and repair, and highly efficient and eective in use.

These and other objects and advantages will be more apparent from the following detailed description of the particular illustrated embodiments, together with an examination of the drawings disclosing the same wherein:

FIGURE l is a side elevational view, partly in section, of the lower portion of a refrigerator cabinet including the drawer assembly of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary side elevational view showing the details of one form of my invention including a nut assembly, stabilizer and quick release mechanism;

FIGURE 3 is a view taken on the lines 3-3 of FIG- URE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a side elevational view similar to FIG- URE l of a modified form of my invention incorporated in the lower portion of a refrigerator cabinet;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevational view showing the details of a modified form of my invention;

arent fl 3,019,579 Patented Jan. 30, 1962 FIGURE 6 is a sectional view taken on the lines 6--6 of FIGURE 5; and

FIGURE 7 is a view taken on the lines 7-7 of FIG- URE 5.

As shown in the drawings, a preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIGURES 1-3 as applied to a cabinet 10 including a back wall 11 and side walls 12 forming a storage compartment 14 within which is movably mounted a drawer 15. The walls 11 and 12 together with a front wall 16 enclose a lower chamber 17 within which is mounted a motor 19 and the operative parts of the motion, transmitting mechanism 20 to be fully described hereinafter. The cabinet just described could be a refrigerator storage compartment, in which case insulation would be provided in the outer cabinet walls and adequate seals would be provided about the inner face of the front 21 of the drawer 15 to seal the refrigerated compartment 14. A motor-driven compressor unit (not shown) for the evaporator-s (not shown) and condenser (not shown) could be mounted in the chamber 17 in the base of the cabinet.

The drawer 15 is composed of a front wall 21, a back wall 26, side walls 27 and a pair of spaced base walls 28, 29, the wall 2S serving as the base of the storage compartment 30, and the wall 29 serving as a support for some of the power-operated portions of the device.

Associated with the drawer 15 and extending from each side 27 thereof are pairs of cantilever mounted roller members 23 which are adapted to engage in shaped channel members 24 fastened to the inner face of the sides 12 of the chamber 14. The interaction between the rollers 23 and channels 24 in such as to permit. the drawer to be readily rolled between opened and closed positions in a relatively well-known standard construction.

To power operate the drawer 15 relative to the cabinet 10, the reversible motor 19 is mounted in the chamber 17 on a bracket 32 which is fastened to the rear wall 11 of the cabinet. A belt 33 connects the small pulley on the motor 19 with a large pulley 34 carried by the one end portion of a threaded shaft member 37 which is mounted for rotatable movement in the bearings 38, 39 supporting the opposite ends of the shaft 37 relative to the housing in the chamber 17. A motion-transmitting nut member 40 operatively engages with the threaded member 37 such that rotation of the member 37 in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction. will move the nut member 40 along the axis of the threaded member 37 between the limit stops 42, 43 securely fastened on the member 37. Actuation of a switch (not shown) in either one of two different directions will operate the motor to drive the nut and the operatively connected drawer 15 between opened and closed positions.

The nut member 40 could be any suitable motiontransmitting nut, but as a preferred nut it has been found desirable to use a nut of the general type covered by US. Patent No. 2,714,005, issued to Ralph H. Wise. The nut member includes a pair of mating housing members 45, 46, each one of which has a stamped-out portion 47 for defining a raceway 48 with an aperture 49 passing through the central area of the portion 47 for reception of the threaded member 37. A plurality of bearing elements 50, having spaced-apart bearing surfaces 51, are held in engagement, respectively, with the raceways 48 of the mating members 45, 46 and with the threads of the member 37. A carrier member 53 freely fitting between the apertures in the members 45, 46 and the threaded member has a plurality of equally spaced-apart openings 54 therein for positioning the bearing elements about the circumference of the threaded member 37. The opposite ends of the carrier 53 are adapted to engage with the stops 42 and 43 to freewheel the nut relative to the screw 37 for limiting further axial movement of the nut and drawer in that particular direction.

The mating housing members 45, 46 of the nut 40 have a rather unusual peripheral shape, as best shown in FIGURE 3, so that a pair of weights 55, 56 can be fastenedby rivets 57y to the opposite faces of the lower portion ofthe nut member. The weights 55, 56 are heavy enough-to prevent the nut 40 from rotating about the axis'of the shaft 37Iwhether the drawer 15 is attached to the nut or not. In this way, when the drawer is disconnected from the nut 4t) in a manner to be hereinafter described, theweights will hold the nut from turning so that rotation of the shaft 37 will move the nut (minus the drawer) along theaxis of the shaft.

A meansA for disconnecting the drawer from the power-driving means is provided and, as best shown in FIGURE l, comprises an elongate rod 59 extending through an opening inthe front 21 of the drawer and conneoted at the front end to a handle 60 and at the other endto a mechanism for releasing the nut 4t); An eccentrically mounted cam 61 is fastened to said other end of the rod 59 such that turning the handle 60 will turn the rod 59 and cam 61 about the axis of the cam. A groove 62 is formed in the outer surface of the cam 61 such as to receive in movable andv nested relationship an oblongshaped link or hook 63 which has'one. end portion 64 conneoted to the` center portion or detent of a shaped spring latch plate 65". The ends of the spring plate 65 are fastened vby rivets66 to the .bottom wall 29 of the drawer in a manner such as to align the plate 65 with the axis of the shaft 37.` The spring plate or latch plate 65 is bowed downwardly towardl the shaft 37 and in the central portion has an upwardly directed rectangularly shaped detent or receiving portion 67 'which is adapted during operation of the device to bein latched positiorrover the upper end portion ofthe. nut40. A pair of upwardly directed abutting'ears 69 are formed on the upper portion of the nut 40 on opposite sides ofthe engaged part of the nut 40 to assist in preventing' the nut from turning out' of latched position with respect to the latch plate 65, see FIGURE 3. The end portionv 64 of the link 63 is riveted to the base of the shaped receiving portion or detent 67 of the latch plate 65.

Itis `believed' tobe obvious that, during normal'operation, asrthe motordivesthenut 4t) along the shaft 37, the latch plate 65 willoperatively transmit theforces to the-drawer 15 for opening and closing the drawer. In the event thatfthe power to the motor fails, theV nature of themotion-transmitting device issuch that it will not be possible yto open or'closethel drawer. A ninety-degree turn of the handle `60 will pivotthe cam 61V to the dottedline position of FIGURE 2 whereupon the link or hook member 63 will move the, latch plate 65 to the disengaged condition relative to thenut 40. With the nut disengaged, it isl a` simple matter to roll the drawer 15 in or out at will on the.rollers 23`and channel 24. As soon as power has been re-established' to the motor and nut 40, the handle 60' can be, turned to the latching posi-tion whereupon the latchplate is returned to the solid-line position of FIGURE, 2. The nut 40 may or may not be engaged with the latch plateV at this time. Iny the event the latch plate is not engaged with1the nut 40, it is a simple matter tormove. the drawerJlS in and' out until the .bowed-portion .of the latch platecngages with the edge of the top or catch portion of nut 40 whereupon continued movement of the drawer will cam theplateV 65 to the dotted-line position in FIGURE2 so that the shaped receiving'portion 67 of the latch 65 will snap over the end portion of the nut to lock the,V nutand drawer together. Normal power operation of theV drawer is nowA resumed.

Inthe modiedform of my invention shown in FIG.- URES 4-7 the cabinet 10, drawer 15,y motor 19 (not shown) and shaft 37 are identical with the form shown anddescribedwith respect to FIGURES 1-3 and-accord.-

ingly similar reference numerals are used to identify the same parts in FIGURES 4 7.

To prevent the nut 75, which is similar in operation to the nut 40, from rotating about the axis of the shaft 37 a guide rod 76 is secured at its end portions to the cabinet walls and slidably passes through a bearing 78 carried by the matinghalves 79, 80 of the nut 75. As the nut 75 is moved along the axis of the shaft 37, by rotation of said shaft, the nut will slide along the axis 0f rod 76. In this manner, the nut 75 will not turn about the axis of the shaft 37, but will move along the shaft with a predetermined orientation.

Extending through the, front 21 of the drawer 15 is a release rod S2 which has a knob 83 on the end of said rod 82 near the bottom of the front of the drawer. The other end portion ofthe rod 82, as shown in FIGURES 5 and 7, is rst bent angularly upwardly, is then bent angularly downwardly and to the right, and is then bent around and in the samev plane as the bottom of the drawer. The angle created by the angularV bend upward and downward, as shown in FIGURE 5, and which forms an apex at 85, creates a pair of cam-surfaces 86 which are stabilized in the upright camming position by the curved end portion 87 which slides on the flat base 29.

A shaped latch plate 89 is fastened by rivets 90' to the bottom 29 of the drawer 15. The resilient latch plate 89 is curved gentlyV downwardly from its ends to a central receiving portion or detent 91 which extends upwardly throughan opening 92 in the bottom 29 and is joined together at 93 above the plane of said bottom. A pair of aligned apertures 95`are formed in the sides of the receiving portion 91 so as to permit the rod 82 to pass freely therethrough. Pulling the knob 83 will`move the cam surface 86 through the apertures 95 in the receiving portion 91 so as'tto move the receiving portion 91 up the cam surface for raisingthe latch plate 89 relative to the nut 75. When the center portion 93 of the receiving portion 91 straddles the apex 85 of the cam surface 86, the end of the curved portion 87 will contact one side 91, and the latch plate 89 will be locked in the fully retractedposition.

The receiving portion `91 of the latch plate S9 is adapted tostraddle the mating halves 79 and 80 defining a catch portion at' the'top `of thenut 75so that in normal power operation, movement of the nut 75 will be transmitted to the drawer 15 through the latch plate 89. When the power fails, itfwill be possible tofmanually operate the drawer by pulling knob S3 and-rod 82Ainto latch plate retracting position. Theguide'rod 76 stabilizes the nut 75 against rotation about the axis ofthe shaft 37 during both` manual andvmotor operation of the drawer. Pushing the knob and rod inwardly will release the latch plate so that'power operation of the` drawer 15 can be resumed in a manner similar to that described above with respect to` FIGURESl 1-3.

While specific embodiments of this invention have been shownand described, it is not desired that the invention be limited to the particular construction shown and described and it is intended by the appended claimsto cover all such modifications within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

l. A cabinet'including walls defining a storage compartment having an opening therein, a drawer adapted to move within said compartment through said opening, coacting guides and rollers mounted respectively on the side walls of the compartment and on the sides of the drawer adapted to provide relatively free-rolling motion therebetween, and motion-transmitting means carried by the cabinet in operative relationship. with respect to the drawereforA moving saiddrawer within the compartment, said means comprising a rotatable threaded drive shaft disposedl substantially parallel to the drawer and extendingin the direction of movementiof the drawer, a motiontransmitting nut member operatively associated withsaid shaft, means for preventing rotation of said nut member, means for connecting said nut member to said drawer comprising a downwardly disposed bow-shaped resilient member fastened at its ends to said drawer, an upwardly disposed detent formed in said resilient member and adapted to engage said nut member, and means carried by said drawer and operatively associated with said resilient member for selectively disengaging said resilient member from said nut member whereby said drawer can be moved manually.

2. A cabinet including walls defining a storage compartment having an opening therein, a drawer adapted to move within said compartment through said opening therein, and motion-transmitting means carried by the cabinet in operative relationship with respect to the drawer for moving said drawer within the compartment, said means comprising a rotatable threaded drive shaft disposed substantially parallel to the drawer and extending in the direction of movement of the drawer, a motion-transmitting nut member operatively associated with said shaft, means for preventing rotation of said nut member, means for connecting said nut member to said drawer comprising a resilient latching member carried by said drawer in alignment with said nut member, a detent formed in said latching member adapted to engage with said nut member whereby movement of the nut will move the drawer, rodactuated cam means carried by said drawer, and link means joining said cam means to said latching member whereby actuation of the rod and cam will disengage the detent from the nut member to permit manual operation of the drawer.

3. A cabinet including walls defining a storage compartment having an opening therein, a drawer adapted to move within said compartment through said opening, a yieldable latch device fixed to said drawer, and motiontransmitting means carried by the cabinet in operative relationship with respect to the drawer for moving said drawer within the compartment comprising a rotatable threaded drive shaft disposed substantially parallel to the drawer and extending in the direction of movement of the drawer, a motion-transmitting nut member operatively associated with said shaft, said nut member including a portion on its periphery for snap connection with said yieldable latch device for transmitting motion to said drawer, and guide means for preventing rotation of said nut member for normally insuring said connection.

4. A cabinet including walls defining a storage compartment having an opening therein, a drawer adapted to move within said compartment through said opening, a threaded drive shaft disposed substantially parallel to the direction of movement of the drawer, means connected to the shaft for rotating the shaft in either direction, a nut member cooperating with the threaded drive shaft for axial movement thereon upon rotation of' the shaft, said nut member including a catch, a resilient means fixed on the drawer having a receiving portion and a sloping cam portion in the path of axial movement of the nut catch whereby axial movement of the drawer relative to the nut will cause the catch to first urge the sloping cam portion out of the path of the nut catch then permit the receiving portion to snap into locked engagement with the catch for movement of the drawer along the axis of the shaft upon rotation of the shaft, and means to urge the resilient means out of engagement with the catch whereby the drawer is free for movement within the cabinet irrespective of the threaded shaft and nut.

5. A cabinet including walls defining a storage compartment having an opening therein, a drawer adapted to move within said compartment through said opening, a threaded drive shaft disposed substantially parallel to the direction of movement of the drawer, means connected to the shaft for rotating the shaft in either direction, a nut member cooperating with the threaded drive shaft for axial movement thereon upon rotation of the shaft, said nut member including a catch, spring-urged receiving means xed on the drawer receiving the catch in locked engagement therewith whereby the nut and drawer are operatively connected for co-movement along the axis of the threaded shaft upon rotation of the shaft, and means to urge the spring-receiving means away from the catch whereby the drawer and receiving means are free for movement into and out of the cabinet irrespective of the threaded shaft and nut.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 164,608 Tappey Iune 15, 1875 1,613,263 Baylin Jan. 4, 1927 2,174,582 Hudon Oct. 3, 1939 2,602,196 Pelton July 8, 1952 2,602,664 Matchett July 8, 1952 2,822,993 Swanson Feb. 11, 1958 2,873,159 Becker Feb. 10, 1959 

